Scot voices concerns at nature of Sam Allardyce's dismissal
By Laurie Bonne
Dec 19, 2010 2:22:00 PM
Following Sam Allardyce’s sacking as Blackburn Rovers manager, Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed that football agents hold too much power these days and that their influence is considerably affecting teams' stability.
Although Allardyce had performed well to keep Rovers in the Premier League on a limited budget for the past two years, he was dismissed earlier in the week by the club's new Indian owners Venky's.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Ferguson expressed his concern about the role of agencies Kentaro and SEM Group in Venky’s decision to sack his friend Allardyce.
"I think it's very difficult these days [to build a club] with the life we're in now," he said.
"There's intense pressure on managers. You've got that issue at Blackburn of an agent involved and deciding the future of the club, Jerome Anderson [of the SEM Group], he couldn't pick his nose.
"It's baffling and it's a serious threat to how clubs get run and how they conduct themselves.”
Premier League authorities fear that “undue influence” may be exerted on the Rovers’ backroom and are scrutinising the club’s way of functioning.
Ferguson, who broke Sir Matt Busby’s record to become United's longest-serving manager on Sunday, is convinced that as football changes due to off-pitch factors, stability and long-term
plans have become harder to craft.
"It's becoming trendy to sack a manager in difficult circumstances and I just wonder whether Blackburn thought, 'You know, if Newcastle can do it, we can do it'," he said.
“If Sam had won on Sunday, they'd have gone fifth in the league. But he still would have got sacked because they would have said they should be fourth.
"I don't know the answers to it, but what I can say is that a manager's job, whatever he's getting paid, it's not worth it.”
Although Allardyce had performed well to keep Rovers in the Premier League on a limited budget for the past two years, he was dismissed earlier in the week by the club's new Indian owners Venky's.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Ferguson expressed his concern about the role of agencies Kentaro and SEM Group in Venky’s decision to sack his friend Allardyce.
"I think it's very difficult these days [to build a club] with the life we're in now," he said.
"There's intense pressure on managers. You've got that issue at Blackburn of an agent involved and deciding the future of the club, Jerome Anderson [of the SEM Group], he couldn't pick his nose.
"It's baffling and it's a serious threat to how clubs get run and how they conduct themselves.”
Premier League authorities fear that “undue influence” may be exerted on the Rovers’ backroom and are scrutinising the club’s way of functioning.
Ferguson, who broke Sir Matt Busby’s record to become United's longest-serving manager on Sunday, is convinced that as football changes due to off-pitch factors, stability and long-term
plans have become harder to craft.
"It's becoming trendy to sack a manager in difficult circumstances and I just wonder whether Blackburn thought, 'You know, if Newcastle can do it, we can do it'," he said.
“If Sam had won on Sunday, they'd have gone fifth in the league. But he still would have got sacked because they would have said they should be fourth.
"I don't know the answers to it, but what I can say is that a manager's job, whatever he's getting paid, it's not worth it.”
